Sheffield Sabres
The Sheffield Sabres are a member of the British Universities American Football League(BUAFL)'s Northern Conference-Roses Division. The Sabres have fielded competitive squads throughout their history, though the team is yet to win its first playoff game. The Zulus The club was founded in 1989 as the Sheffield Pirates, and earning a 2-4 record with two default victories against Newcastle Raiders. The club was then renamed the Sheffield Zulus and in the 90-91 season, they went 2-5-1, including a 6-6 tie against Hull Sharks. 91-92 saw the Zulus record their first ever winning (5-3) season, coming fourth in the Northern Conference and winning the first three games including a 20-8 victory over the Lancaster Bombers, the clubs first ever win. In 92-93 the Zulus built on their hard work, recording a 5-2-1 record, and making it to the post season. Unfortunately the Zulus crashed out 42-12 against Leeds Celtics in their first ever post season match. The following season (93-94) the Zulus went 4-2-2, including a 50-8 victory over Sunderland Kings. The Zulus were scheduled to play Glasgow Tigers in the playoffs but this game never went ahead due to travelling costs. In the 94-95 season, the Zulus were moved into the Central Division of the Northern Conference, and recorded a 3-4-1 record, including a creditable 24-12 victory over the Leicester Longhorns, and in 95-96, they earned another 3-4-1 record, coming third in the Central Division. The 96-97 season would mark a temporary end to football in Sheffield, as the Zulus had their worst season on record, an 0-6-2 unwinning season. The team did not compete for three seasons in the BCAFL, from 1997-2000. The Sabres The Sheffield University American Football team was refounded by Damian Marshall, and rechristened the Sheffield Sabres, wearing the traditional Sheffield University colours of Navy and Gold The club played their first season in BCAFL in 2000, and recorded their first win, in overtime against Newcastle Mariners, 18-12. Unfortunately, this season had to be cut short for the Sabres, due to a lack of funds, and the team finished with a 1-7 record. The 01-02 season was much more enjoyable for the Sabres, as wins against Strathclyde Hawks, Leeds Celtics, Lancaster Bombers and Newcastle Mariners took the Sabres to their first winning (5-3) season as a new team, despite having a squad made mostly of rookies. Fortunately the steady hands of Damian Marshall, Clive Kelty and Mark Gowan, helped the team to thrive. The Sabres travelled to Stirling Clansmen in their first ever playoff match, but came away 18-13 losers, in an exciting match. The 02-03 season saw another interesting twist, as the first season without QB Damian Marshall, saw the Sabres struggle to an 0-7-1 record. However, the Sabres were grooming another great quarterback in rookie Paul Musker, who would go on to be the clubs all time leading scorer. In 03-04, the Sabres fluctuated again, this time racking up 5 wins, on their way to a 5-3 winning season, including a 46-0 victory at Leicester Longhorns, but a post season match was just out of reach. 04-05 saw the Sabres once again fluctuate on their way to a terrible 0-8 record, including heavy losses against Staffordshire Stallions and Lancaster Bombers. However, a 46-8 Varsity win would leave a sweet taste of victory in the mouth. The 2005-06 season, under the leadership of HC Jake Treen, and OC Al Wilson, saw the forming of Air Sheffield, a pass heavy, exciting brand of football. Using Paul Musker, at quarterback, and an impressive receiver corps, the Sabres went on to score 222 points on their way to another 5-3 record. This included a 62-0 win against Leicester Longhorns and a 66-16 win against Paisley Pyros, the biggest win, and most points scored in a game respectively. The Sabres once again struggled in a playoff match, bowing out to Northern Conference Champions, UT Cougars, 46-12. 06-07 saw a "changing of the guard" in the Sheffield Sabres coaching staff as OC Bob Wilson and Director of Football, and Line Coach Simon Dwyer were added to the coaching setup, along with Jake Treen as head coach. This would turn out to be a "last hurrah" for Jake, as his defence conceded just 6 points in 6 games, including a morale-building 6-3 loss against Loughborough Aces, before he took up a new job in Sydney, Australia. His work was continued by Simon Vardy and Will Hunting, and the Sabres earned a 6-1-1 record, the best in the club's history, before once again losing in the playoffs, this time 13-0 to Leeds Celtics. The 2006-07 season saw some off the field changes too, namely the change of colours from Navy and Gold to Black and Gold, including a change in uniform, to all black, with gold trim. The Sabres also had to leave their spiritual home "Old Slopey" at Norton, due to it being not long enough for BCAFL use. The Sabres are still looking for a permanent home, as they had to play some of their home matches away. The BUAFL Era 2007/8 & 2008/09 Since the emergence of BUAFL the Sabres have fared far better than they did in BCAFL, posting an all time record of 19-5 (as of 04/05/10). After going 7-1 in their first BUAFL campaign the Sabres lost to divisional rivals Leeds in the first round of the playoffs. In the 2008-09 season, the Sabres went 7-1-0, winning the division. There single loss coming to their cross town rivals the Sheffield Hallam Warriors in the varsity game. They proceeded to the playoffs but lost in the Conference 2 semi-final play-off game against Loughborough (7-21). 2009/10 2009/10 saw a returning senior player in quarterback Henry Geen, and, along with a veteran O-line and experienced running back set, hopes were high for a succesfull season. A hard schedule was posted, and whilst the season resulted in the highest scoring offense in sabres history, the challenges of last years finalists (Newcastle Raiders) and Sheffield Hallam adopting Double Wing offense, which much more suited their strong aggresive style of football, were to prove to much. The season kicked off against Leeds Celtics at the Graveyard. A hotly contested rivaly always makes these matchups a real game to watch and this was no different. Copious penalties were to hold the offense back with two touchdowns called back, they went on to lose 6 - 0. Convincing wins against newcomers York Centurions and Bangor Muddogs asserted the fact that the first loss was definitely not how the sabres were planning to continue their season. 2008/9 finalists Newcastle Raiders was always going to be the hardest game, made harder with the loss of several starters to illness and more to injury early in the game. A valaint fight on the Sabres part gave the Raiders "one of the hardest games ive ever played" (Craig smith, RB Raiders). Post christmas line up consisted of Huddersfield Hawks, Hallam Warriors and new team Leeds Carnegie. A convincing, though not comfortable win over the Hawks shook the Sabres into stepping up both on and off the field with two very hard opponents still to face. The hallam game turned out with a scoreline that was predicted, but a game that was not. A hugely physical contest and end to end football certainly showed the scoreline did not truly represent the game. However, the better team on the day won, and Hallam would go on to win the Division. Now the sabres were looking at a possible losing season, and certainly had no chance of a playoff position. The final game would be against Leeds Carnegie. Leeds Carnegie split from Leeds Celtics following the imposition of single institution rule, not allowing players from a different university to play for another. Carnegie would represent Leeds Met uni, and do so with a rookie season to remember. COming into the game looking at a playoff place, all they had to do was beat the Sabres. A string of cancellations earlier in the season resulted in a Wednesday night lights game, in freezing weather at Bawtry road. Celtics were after the playoff spot, sabres were after a winning season. Still carrying knocks from the sunday game against Hallam didnt phase the more experience on the Sabres side of the ball and it paid off with a convincing 33 - 12 win. 2007/08 Schedule *Sheffield Sabres 42 - 8 Sheffield Hallam Warriors *Huddersfield Hawks 0 - 71 Sheffield Sabres *Sheffield Sabres 22 - 0 Lancaster Bombers *Sheffield Sabres 7 - 0 Leeds Celtics *Sheffield Hallam Warriors P - P Sheffield Sabres *Sheffield Sabres 1 - 0 Huddersfield Hawks *Lancaster Bombers 0 - 48 Sheffield Sabres *Leeds Celtics 13 - 0 Sheffield Sabres *Sheffield Sabres 26 - 10 Sheffield Hallam Warriors (rescheduled match + varsity game) 2008/09 Schedule *Liverpool Fury P - P Sheffield Sabres *Nottingham Outlaws 2 - 13 Sheffield Sabress *Sheffield Sabres 14 - 0 Derby Braves *Sheffield Sabres 14 - 0 Leeds Celtics *Sheffield Hallam Warriors 21 - 14 Sheffield Sabres *Sheffield Sabres P - P Lancaster Bombers *UCH Sharks P - P Sheffield Sabres *Sheffield Sabres 46 - 0 Huddersfield Hawks *UCH Sharks 0 - 30 Sheffield Sabres (rescheduled match) *Sheffield Sabres 30 - 0 Lancaster Bombers (rescheduled match) *Liverpool Fury 6 - 10 Sheffield Sabres (rescheduled match) 2009/10 Schedule *Leeds Celtics 6 - 0 Sheffield Sabres *York Centurions 0 - 55 Sheffield Sabres *Bangor Muddogs 0 - 84 Sheffield Sabres *Sheffield Sabres 44 - 8 Nottingham Outlaws *Sheffield Sabres 6 - 32 Newcastle Raiders *Sheffield Sabres 26 - 0 Huddersfield Hawks *Hallam Warriors 42 - 21 Sheffield Sabres *Sheffield Sabres 33 - 12 Lees Carnegie Retired Numbers Team Records by Season External links *BUAFL *Sheffield Sabres - Official Site Category:BUAFL teams